Chapter 19
‘Got it!’
In truth, she was the child with the highest synchronization rate with Arcana in the entire research lab.
No matter how high the synchronization rate, side effects would start to appear after more than two doses of Arcana.
But Rosie remained unaffected even after five doses.
Except for her gradually changing hair color.
The researchers had said, ‘Including you, only three have endured up to the 5th dose.’
She didn’t know who the other two were, but regardless…
Thanks to Arcana, Rosie now possessed monstrous strength and agile movements.
“Maria, sister.”
Calling out to her cautiously, the moment she stepped inside the laboratory…
She was stunned.
Because inside the lab, there were countless glass flasks so large and tall they reached the ceiling.
A greenish liquid sloshed inside the flasks, and children floated within them, eyes closed.
“What… is this?”
Rosie’s trembling hand touched a flask.
Faint marks, as if someone had scratched from the inside with their nails, remained on the flask, and unwashed bloodstains were scattered on the floor.
“Ggrruu… gk, ggrrgk……”
Just then, a low, viscous voice came from somewhere.
Turning her head, she saw, astonishingly, Maria there.
Though covered in green liquid, making it hard to recognize clearly…
Maria’s brown hair that Rosie liked. Her warm orange eyes.
It was certain. It was definitely her.
“sister!”
Rosie hurried over to her.
She tried not to cry, but tears burst forth uncontrollably.
“sisiter, I’m here. Were you in a lot of pain? Was it hard?”
“Ggrrgk… grugh.”
Unlike usual, Maria’s eyes were wide and gleaming, and she couldn’t meet Rosie’s gaze.
But Rosie, immersed in the joy of finding her, failed to notice this.
“I’ll get you out. Let’s run away!”
Rosie hugged the flask tightly and shouted.
“Maria sister, let’s go sell hairpins!”
“Ggrruuugh……”
That’s when it happened.
“Ggrrgk. Gk, grk, ggrrgk!”
Right before Rosie’s eyes, Maria’s body began to twist and grow.
In the blink of an eye, her height exceeded 3 meters, and her entire body was covered in a mud-like substance as if melting.
Her white skin turned into a dark red mass, and grotesque protrusions sprouted where bones should have been.
“Ah……”
Rosie, who had stepped back from the flask, looked up at her with vacant eyes.
Maria was no longer there.
That was…
‘Is there a chance she could become a “Deponno”?’
‘Not currently. Unless a psychological shock is inflicted.’
‘That… is a Depono.’
Only then did she recall what she had recently learned about Deponno in class.
They were souls not blessed by the Goddess Esca, destined to continue acts of destruction until their lives ended.
For them, unworthy of boarding the Ark, there was only death.
Belatedly realizing the danger, she awkwardly stepped back.
‘I, I have to run.’
But it was already too late.
Crash!
The giant flask shattered. Sharp glass fragments and sticky green liquid cascaded down.
In the liquid flooding her vision, she saw a massive tentacle flying towards her.
Just when she thought there was no way to avoid it.
“Hey, are you crazy?”
Thorny vines rose from the floor and wrapped around her. Thanks to that, the tentacle shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
Gasping for breath, Rosie turned to look behind her.
There stood two young boys who appeared to be around her age.
A boy with grey hair and blue eyes, holding a dagger with an expressionless face.
A boy with golden hair and red eyes, grumbling as he held a staff as tall as himself.
The one who had saved her seemed to be the mage with the staff.
“What are you doing standing there dazed! Don’t you even know how to dodge?”
“Ah… Sorry.”
“We heard a noise on our way back to the dorm… You’d be dead by now if it weren’t for us!”
“Sorry……”
As Rosie apologized with a dazed face, the mage asked with a peculiar expression.
“Did you know that Deponno?”
“She was my roommate… Her name is Maria.”
“…I see.”
The mage raised his staff and looked at Maria—no, the Deponno.
The Deponno emanated a foul smell of rotting flesh and let out grotesque cries with its imperfect vocal cords.
“Ggrruuaa… aahh……”
It was an indescribable sound—whether a moan, rage, or a scream for help.
“It might be hard to understand,”
the mage said, as if comforting her.
“But that is no longer human. It’s just a monster trying to kill you.”
“…….”
“Only negative memories and emotions remain in a Deponno. That monster probably no longer has any memories of being with you.”
Rosie’s breathing grew ragged. Tears fell uncontrollably.
I don’t get it. Right now, saying that…
‘Maria sister.’
Where are you, sister?
sister’s warm body heat. Her kind voice. The future we dreamed of together. It’s still so vivid to me…
Did Maria sister really… turn into that monster?
Did she leave? To a place beyond my reach?
Just then, the grey-haired boy raised his dagger and walked towards Maria.
His expression was colder than the blue fluorescent lights in the hallway that Rosie was used to.
Feeling a foreboding, Rosie screamed.
“Wait! Wh, what are you trying to…!”
“It’ll be over quickly.”
“No! You can’t kill Maria sister!”
She tried to struggle, but the thorny vines covered her view.
Simultaneously, a horrific sound was heard—the sound of a dagger deeply piercing something soft.
“No!”
Screaming, Rosie collapsed to the floor. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks like rain.
This whole situation felt like a dream.
Maybe if she closed and opened her eyes, it would be morning again, back when Maria was still here.
‘Yes, as if nothing happened…’
Maria waking her up. Having breakfast together.
Talking about their dream of traveling the country selling hairpins…
Hoping for a miracle, Rosie slowly closed and opened her eyes.
In her blurred vision, she saw someone’s hand.
A hand holding Maria’s flower-shaped hairpin.
“……!”
Quickly lifting her head, she saw the grey-haired boy looking down at her with an expressionless face.
Staring intently at her, he said in a low voice,
“I brought it. Thought it might be yours.”
As Rosie’s trembling hand slowly took the hairpin, he muttered.
“Cry if you want to.”
“…….”
“I set up a poison trap at the lab door. The researchers won’t be able to come for a while.”
She slowly hugged the hairpin to her chest.
Then, tears burst forth again like a waterfall.
Burying her face between her knees, Rosie began to sob with all her might.
“Maria sister… Maria sister……! I miss you. Please……”
“…….”
“Sister… where did you go, leaving me behind……. We promised to go sell hairpins together.”
The two boys silently waited until Rosie’s crying subsided.
And, a while later.
As she sniffled, somewhat calmer, the mage asked.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“…Rosie.”
“Ah, so you’re that Rosie.”
“You know me?”
“You’re famous as a monster. They say you survived up to the 5th dose of Arcana.”
“But Rosie isn’t a monster……”
“Yeah, I know you’re not. We’re survivors too.”
Only then did Rosie realize.
These two were the other ones the researchers said had endured up to the 5th dose of Arcana.
“I’m Theordor.”
The mage smiled faintly and extended his hand.
She took his hand without thinking, and he pulled her upright.
“As you can see, I’m a mage. And this is Alexion. He knows all about poisons.”
“…….”
“Call me Theo, and him Alex.”
The boy named Alexion gave a slight nod of his chin.
Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, Rosie nodded hesitantly. Theo said in a bright voice.
“Since we’ve met like this, let’s do our best to survive from now on!”
“…Y, yes.”
“Who knows? Maybe the three of us will become Arks?”
“Could that really happen……?”
The Goddess of Destruction, Esca.
It was said her Ark, for the Iblis Empire, would defeat the Satan-filled Castium and reach a new paradise.
And the only three who could board that Ark were the Arks.
‘Could I… become an Ark?’
If I become an Ark, I can leave this research lab.
Then I could travel the country selling hairpins, like Maria sister wanted to.
“But……”
Rosie pouted and said.
“Wh, what if I die… like Maria sister?”
“You won’t die. Absolutely not.”
Theo tightened his grip on her hand.
“If the three of us stick together, nothing will be scary. We’re the strongest; we can defeat anything.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“What if you betray me?”
At that, Theo’s expression changed.
